Molded plastic containers are used to ship and store a wide variety of bulk products such as food, wallpaper paste and driveway sealant as examples. Such containers must withstand rough handling, a wide temperature range and stacking while filled. For 5 and 6 gallon containers, the required stacking tolerance may be as high as 3000 lbs. The preferred material for the containers is high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and the preferred configuration is tapered to allow nesting of empty containers.